Environmental and social responsibility of companies cross EU countries - Panel data analysis.

In recent years, the socio-environmental dimension has become a structural and strategic element of successful companies, where it is usually addressed through the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility. The challenge for business is to draft new paradigms for operational procedures and improve the business conditions towards social and environmental responsibilities. Companies focus on eco-innovations and the production of "green products". Green innovations or technologies can be used by firms of all sizes and organizations have various motives for implementing an environmental friendly strategy or processes. Conversely, consumers tend to move more towards green products, which provide them with a sense that they are protecting the environment. According to the data from the group of International Standards Organization ISO 14000 more organizations from the EU have registered their systems as "eco-friendly" over the last few years. Data in this study was obtained from company-level surveys across EU member states conducted by the World Economic Forum following the thematic research on Global Competitiveness Index. The static panel data regression model was employed to show that there is a strong relationship between innovation and "going green". The results from several models reveal that innovation is significant and positively associated with "going green". Access to green environment increases innovation among competitors to present products that are environmentally friendly. Also, we have found that corporate ethics influence firms to apply environment-friendly business practices.